Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Page 8
Page 9
Page 10
Page 11
Page 12
Page 13
Page 14
Page 15
Page 16
Page 17
Page 18
Page 19
Page 20
ForestrealertstillextremeinhighriskareasLatestwildfireseasonachallengeforNWTfirefighters9TuesdayOctober12013NORTHWESTTERRITORYMTISNATIONJoinusatHayRiverCommunityHallArenaNovember1922IncludingaSelf-GovernmentWorkshopANNUALGENERALASSEMBLYEnvironmentForestsByMARIACHURCHAdvancingwintermeansforestreactivityisdwin-dlingintheNWTbutforestmanagementstaffatEnvi-ronmentandNaturalRe-sourcesENRsaytheyarestillonalertfornewresinhighriskareaswheresum-merconditionsweredrierthannormal.Thingsareslowingdownbutwestillhavetobevigilantandwatchoutforanynewfires.Wevehadfourreportedperson-causedfiresinthelasttwoweekssothatsalwaysanissueRichardOlsenmanagerofFireOperationsatENRtoldTheJournallastmonth.Huntingseasonisstart-ingupwhichmeansmorepeopleareheadingoutintothebushandstartingresOlsenexplained.Withdrought-likecondi-tionsseenthroughouttheDehchoregionandtheareasurroundingYellowknifeoverthesummerthoseareasremainathighriskforforestres.Thebigmessageisthatpeopleshouldalwaysmakesurethatanyfiretheyneedtomakeiscompletelyputoutbeforetheyleavehesaid.2013reschallengingforENRstaffTheENRteamtackledatotalof247resthisseasonasofmid-SeptemberandwhilethisisntanunusualnumberOlsensaidthescopeanddurationoftheresmadethemmoreofachallengethanexpected.Withinregionsrebehav-iourwasverysignicantandchallenginghesaid.Theverydryconditionsrequiredalotmoreworkthanwewouldnormallyanticipate.Deepandpersistentburnsalsoresultedintheneedtoreallygetinandlookatthingsforalongerpe-riodoftime.TheDehchoregionpar-ticularlyFortSimpsonandsurroundingcommunitiessawthemostactivityfromENRreghters.ItswasareallyatypicalseasonforthemOlsensaid.Theysawalotlargerresthantheynormallywouldsoresthatescapedinitialattacktendedtorequirealotmoretimeandresources.JustsoutheastofWrigleyarethatstartedearlyinJulygrewoutofcontrolandwastackledbycrewsforclosetoamonth.Thetotalburnareacoveredmorethan48000hectaresanarealargerthanthecityofEdmonton.BecausetherewereotherresintheNWTatthesametimecrewswerecalledinfromBritishColumbiaSas-katchewanandOntariotohelpbattletheblazes.Fourhelicopterswerealsousedintheresponse.Alltold80importreght-erswerebroughtintohelpwiththereandthatsinad-ditiontoourregularrecrewsandemergencyreghtersOlsensaid.Ourmainob-jectivesweretokeepitfromgrowingtothewesttowardsWrigleybutitrequiredasig-nicantamountofresourcestoaccomplishthoseobjectives.AnotherchallengingseriesofresburnedovertheJulylongweekendnearthecom-munitiesofFortSimpsonFortLiardandJeanMarieRiver.Theindividualres-allstartedbyalightningstorminthearea-eventuallycom-binedintoonecoveringmorethan100000hectares.Thewildrebecameapri-orityconcernforcrewswhenitspreadtowardcabinsintheareadestroyingoneandheadingtowardsJeanMarieRiver.Afteraweekcrewswereabletogetthereundercontrolandprotectotherval-uedassetsinthearea.Withtheunusualpersis-tenceofresthisyearOlsensaidthestrainonresourcesandmanpowerwashigherthanaverage.Theguysdidreallygood.Theyputinalotofeffort.Ev-erybodythatwasinvolvedwiththereprogramreallycontrib-uted100percenthesaid.Wehadreallygoodsupportfromthecommunitiesintermsofnotonlyreportingresbutalsoinsupportingusintheworkthattheguysweredoing.Thatwasgoodtosee.Theyexpressedappreciationfortheworkweweredoing.PhotocourtesyofENRAtotalof247resweretackledbyEnvironmentandNaturalResourcesstaffintheNWTthisyear.CLOSINGCOMMUNITYCONCERT700p.m.SaturdayEveningatAnglicanHallCOMETOFORTSMITHTOTHEFIRSTEVERIN-TOWNFIDDLEWORKSHOPKCFAFIDDLEWORKSHOPFortSmithSaturdayOctober5SundayOctober6BartHartop867-872-2154gail_barthartophotmail.comLindaDuford867-876-0656ljtd58yahoo.caGerdaHazenberg867-766-2464gerdahazenbergtheedge.caFORFURTHERINFORMATIONCONTACTTIME9a.m.-530p.m.Saturday9a.m.-3p.m.Sundaywitha2-hourlunchbreakfrom12p.m.-2p.m.seescheduleforallactivitiesThiswillbeaweekendofddleclassesorchestraclassesddledancingothermusicalinstrumentssuchasguitarmandolinandmuchmoreNoneedtoknowhowtoplayaninstrument.Beginnerswelcome.Minimumage8yearsoldto90yearsyoung.REGISTRATIONFEE60RegistrationformscanbepickedupatJBTSchoolofceorfromBartHartopatAuroraColllege